(EN) Oak – The Nordic Journal, the bi-annual, self-designated ‘book-azine’ is a hard-back trove of Nordic culture. Volume six, the Global/Local issue, looks at the the traces of the Nordic worldwide.

(EN) Oak was founded in 2012 by Anne Riis, Publishing Director, and Laura Terp, Creative Director: “It grew from a shared passion. We saw that there wasn’t a media outlet like Oak that was celebrating this part of the world not only as a region but also for its lifestyles and mindsets,” says Anne. In the journal, the region’s personalities take center stage, “We wanted to create something more long lasting, something about really taking time to slow down and tell all the genuine stories for our part of the world,” adds Laura. Since it’s fifth issue, Oak has been released as a bound journal, profiling visionary people, design, ideas, and escapes in each of its sections.

(EN) To mark the publication of the volume six, The Global/Local Issue, FvF hosted the Oak founders and a mixer of our communities in the FvF Apartment. Anne and Laura collaborated with Canadian journalist and Berlin residedent Karen Orton, former International Editor of Harper’s Bazaar Paris, who will act as editor from the issue onwards, lending a different perspective to the publication. “I live here in Berlin, but I’ve had a real fascination with Scandinavia for as long as I remember. I think you always take a different perspective when you see something from the outside. Because our audience is primarily international I feel like I can help tell stories which are of interest outside of people outside of the Nordic world,” she explains. “It’s more interesting to look at Nordic as not just being a region but the inspiration and influence that happens both ways between us and the rest of the world,” adds Anne.

(EN) Celebrating Oak at the FvF Apartment

(EN) Catering at the event came courtesy of Rødder, now based in Berlin.

(EN) Inside the The Global/Local issue issue you’ll find both Noma founder Rene Redzepi reflecting on taking NOMA on the road to Tokyo and Sydney and Italian chef Massimo Bottura repurposing food waste in the ‘10 Ideas to Change the World’ piece. It’s a publication that looks at both sides of the coin: from Nordics, like photographer Lina Scheynius who have settled elsewhere in the world to the reverse, international creatives who have laid down roots in the Northern countries. “People are so inspired by this Nordic way of life and we wanted to show that it’s an approach and a way of thinking and looking at the world that is not just bound to this area. The issue is full of Nordic people doing great things and ideas which resonate with the Nordic mindset, that aren’t necessarily from the region,” says Karen.

(EN) Thank you Anne, Laura and Karen from Oak and to Rødder for the Nordic catering. Find our more about Oak – The Nordic Journal here. Read out interview with Icelandic cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir, who also appeared in Volume Six of Oak.